UNSUNG HEROES: Female Soldier Sacrificed Her Life To Protect Countless Others

I would argue there are no longer any front lines with the current type of enemies we fight, but actually non-linear battlefields. Our main enemies are fighting as decentralized organizations. No one will have to put female Service Members in harms way, they have already been and are still in harms way.
If several Nuns and a man were killed saving people while in a convent, and a publication published an article called "Man of Faith Dies in Convent Saving Others." What would people generally focus on - the Man in the convent or several Nuns that died, too. All of the deaths matter, it is just the context the writer chose to use. 1LT Jennifer Moreno and 1LT Ashley White paid the ultimate price to defend our Constitution, so that author had the freedom to write the article the way he did.

She was news because "man bites dog" is news. "Dog bites man" is not.

Sgt Wheeler, I agree with you that highlighting this RN as a female and unsung heroes. Women continue to fight for their place at the table as an equal. Over 150 women have died since 9/11 and our entry into Afghanistan and later Iraq. These Marines, soldiers, airmen and sailors were everywhere, yet in the eyes of our nation, women are still not considered veterans, warriors, or combat veterans. Every one of our warriors deserves equal time and for the most part, women are rarely regarded as exceptional. Two women have been awarded the Silver Star in the past 15 years for their actions in combat and they weren't nurses. Women get the double whammy. Men don't believe they belong, they resent competing with women, so women fight multiple wars in the military every single day. (whether they are deployed or not) They have to prove themselves to be deserving of this space, they have to fight to be respected, they have to fight inappropriate male advances, and they have to fight the girlie stigma. In some ways, she has battled the masculine to work side-by-side. She is an unsung hero, because you have no idea what she went through to get where she wanted to be. I'm a nurse and my husband is a nurse. We were in occupations dominated by women and he dealt with a reverse discrimination when he began his career, but as a male he had opportunities none of us (women) did in the military. Every one of our brothers and sisters that volunteer, serve, and give their life for us and their team deserves to be credited, but she went through a different path because she fought to be there against the hegemonic masculinity that dominates the military. Your rant was duly noted and I would ask that you give us credit for the battle we face just to be accepted and respected as a team member. Honor this soldier as all others, but understand, her path was not as easy and she may not have had the equivalent training. That is my rant.